Income Tax Audit 2025: Know Deadline, Section 44B, Penalties, Forms, Who Should Get Their Account Audited

The last date for submitting income tax audit is nearing on September 30, 2025. As per the Income Tax law, taxpayers must get their business or profession account audited every year. However, not all taxpayers are required to file their audit. If the taxpayer misses the due date for audit, they will be liable to pay a hefty Rs 1.5 lakh penalty. Know all details of income tax audit here.

Income Tax Audit 2025 Deadline:

The taxpayers including companies, proprietorships, and partners in firms who fall in the bracket of section 44AB, must audit their account by September 30, 2025, for financial year 2024-25 and assessment year 2025-26.

Income Tax Audit 2025 Important Dates:

After auditing the account, these taxpayers will then be required to file their income tax returns for FY25 by end of October 31, 2025.

Taxpayers like companies, proprietors and firms who must audit, do not have the same deadline for filing ITR as salaried individuals.

In general terms, taxpayers should get his accounts audited and should obtain the audit report on or before 30th September of the relevant assessment year.

For example, after assessment year 2025-26, tax audit report for the financial year 2025-26 corresponding to the assessment year 2026-27 should be obtained on or before 30th September, 2026.

What Is Section 44AB For Income Tax Audit?

According to CBDT FAQs, Section 44AB gives the provisions relating to the class of taxpayers who are required to get their accounts audited from a chartered accountant. The audit under section 44AB aims to ascertain the compliance of various provisions of the Income-tax Law and the fulfillment of other requirements of the Income-tax Law. The audit conducted by the chartered accountant of the accounts of the taxpayer in pursuance of the requirement of section 44AB is called tax audit.

The chartered accountant conducting the tax audit is required to give his findings, observation, etc., in the form of audit report.

Income Tax Audit Forms:

The chattered account of taxpayers are required to furnish the income tax audit report in prescribed forms.

The form prescribed for audit report in respect of audit conducted under section 44AB is Form No. 3CB and the prescribed particulars are to be reported in Form No. 3CD.

Who Should File Income Tax Audit Report?

According to CBDT FAQs, following taxpayers must file their audit report:

1. A person carrying on business, if his total sales, turnover or gross receipts (as the case may be) in business for the year exceed or exceeds Rs. 1 crore.

However, this is not applicable to the person, who opts for presumptive taxation scheme under section 44AD and his total sales or turnover doesn't exceed Rs. 2 crore.

Also, it needs to be noted that the threshold limit, for a person carrying on business, is increased from Rs. 1 Crore to Rs. 10 crores in case when cash receipt and payment made during the year do not exceed 5% of total receipt or payment, as the case may be. In other words, more than 95% of business transactions should be done through banking channels.

2. A person carrying on profession, if his gross receipts in profession for the year exceed Rs. 50 lakhs.

3. An assessee who declare profit for any previous year in accordance with section 44AD and he decreases profit for any of one 5 assessment year relevant to the previous year succeeding such previous year lower than the profit computed as per section 44AD and his income exceeds the amount which is not chargeable to tax.

4. A person who is eligible to opt for the presumptive taxation scheme of section 44ADA (*) but he claims the profits or gains for such profession to be lower than the profit and gains computed as per the presumptive taxation scheme and his income exceeds the amount which is not chargeable to tax.

Income Tax Audit 2025 Penalties

If taxpayers missed the September 30, 2025 deadline, then he or she is liable to pay hefty fines. These are:

According to section 271B, if any person who is required to comply with section 44AB fails to get his accounts audited in respect of any year or years as required under section 44AB or furnish such report as required under section 44AB, the Assessing Officer may impose a penalty. The penalty shall be lower of the following amounts:

(a) 0.5% of the total sales, turnover or gross receipts, as the case may be, in business, or of the gross receipts in profession, in such year or years.

(b) Rs. 1,50,000.

However, according to section 271B, no penalty shall be imposed if reasonable cause for such failure is proved.